Apple’s newest emojis are all about Girl Power and equality

The long list of emojis just keeps growing.

When the news about the 72 new emojis being released emerged a few months ago, we were majorly excited about some of the additions from the face-palm to the bacon. But we were even more excited to hear about the empowering new emojis announced by Apple on Monday. In a statement on their website Apple said that they were working closely with emoji creators Unicode to ensure that popular emoji characters reflect the diversity of people everywhere. "This exciting update brings more gender options to existing characters, including new female athletes and professionals, adds beautiful redesigns of popular emoji, a new rainbow flag and more family options." Apple had previously announced the launch of female professional emojis but these athletes are also a very welcomed addition. It might not be the biggest leap for gender equality, but considering the fact that young women are now using emojis as a major mode of communication, it is so important that the keyboard is diverse and inclusive.   The new emojis not only celebrate gender diversity but also sexuality, as the much-needed rainbow flag has also been added to the list. It seems that the redesign of a popular emoji is also making a statement about gun control as the long-standing pistol will be replaced by a green water gun. The emoji creators previously eliminated the proposed rifle emoji from their list.   These emoji characters, along with almost 100 others, will be available to iPhone and iPad users this Autumn with iOS 10.